A fresh start
by timtom
Summary: The Doctor has a new body, a new personality, and new adventures ahead of him. So when he picks up an orphaned girl called Cara, the newly regenerated Doctor immediately falls into his old footsteps. That is, getting into trouble. (Cara is an OC, an explanation for her name is inside as an Author's note) Special appearance (Craig's son) Alfie and Miss River Song!
1. Into the TARDIS

Author's note: Just forget about the current companion, because 'Cara' means 'friend' in Irish, and I thought that was fitting. So.

Also this was based off an rp I had on omegle, but I never knew who the person was, so I can't take all the credit here. I changed a few names and made a few adjustments.

* * *

"Oh now that's just cheeky!" The Doctor yelled, slapping the TARDIS on the door. He didn't even notice the girl walking around the corner of the small alleyway. The girl stopped and looked at the man – she's spent lots of time in these alleys, but never before has she seen or even noticed that blue box. I mean, it couldn't have just appeared, right? She thought to herself as she silently shuffled closer.

"Come on!" The Doctor grumbled, blowing a piece of hair out of his face. "Fine. Be like that! See if I care!" He stomped his foot. The girl couldn't help but chuckle, it was like a young child was stuck in the body of this grown man. She decided to make herself known.

"Sir, are you alright?" She asked.

"Hmm?" He turned, eyebrows raised. He hadn't been aware that he wasn't alone for a while now. "Oh." He said, suddenly jumping in front of the blue box, as if to cover it. He turned so he was facing her rather than clinging to the wall of the box. "Yes, uh…" He reached into his jacket pocket. He pulled out some sort of identification. "Yes, I was just doing a bit of reconstruction for the … council. You don't have to worry, everything is fine." He smiled, quickly whipping it back into his jacket.

The girl needed to get past the box and the man though. At night she usually stayed here, but now that there was someone here from a … council, and it really wasn't worth the trouble to get banned from this area too. Finding good places to live when you're homeless really doesn't help when you're on the council's most wanted list. Her entire life since she was 16 has been like an episode of the Fast and the Homeless. She decided she needed to get past him and get her stuff and boot it. Maybe she could return later.

"Is this your … box?" She said, making it obvious that the man wasn't hiding anything. The Doctor looked back, realizing that he wasn't nearly enough to cover the box. Dammit, he thought, I'm still not ginger and the regeneration has only made me smaller. He stood upright instead, and readjusted his a-little-too-big-for-him jacket. "Right, yes. It is my box."

"Why did you put it back here?" The girl looked around. No one ever came by these alleys. "I was here just less than an hour ago, _how_ did you get it back here? It looks awfully heavy …" She adjusted her long brown hair and folded her arms so that her hands were out of the cold autumn breeze that whipped through the alley this time of year.

"Well _I _didn't put it here, did I?" He slapped the box again, annoyed. "This silly thing just plonked down here by herself!" His hand quickly covered his mouth. "Right, I'm rude. Well that's not new."

The girl laughed. This strange man was talking in such a funny way, yet somehow she was drawn to him, like she didn't want to leave him alone here, with his strange but beautiful box. She glanced down an alleyway that connected to the one they were standing in. She saw two officers pass by, but luckily they didn't even look her way. She had to get out of this place and find a new place to live for a while, while she still could. She slid past the grumbling man and his blue box, and started picking up books that were safely hidden in a neat pile under a rubbish-can lid that was next to a ratty arm chair.

"Ooh! The Ugly Duckling!" The man was suddenly there, throwing himself into her armchair and picking up her favourite book. "I love this book!" He said with childish glee. She smiled at him as she continued to pick up the books. She hadn't really properly had a conversation with anyone for a few weeks now, and this man was much more friendly than any of the other people she had met in the city.

"I always liked this too." She said, a bit awkwardly. How is it and this man was so comfortable around her? Other people just seemed too bothered by her homelessness to have a straight up conversation with her. She didn't look the part though – she took pride in being able to at least have clothes that fit, even if the colors were a bit mismatched.

"Aw, this one's pictures are so much better! Mind you the last time I read this I was only around 400 or so and I was hanging by my feet." He paused. "I'm also mouthy and share too much … right." The girl grinned at the man.

"You're mad, aren't you?" She said, with a tone that said _because it's okay, I am a bit too_.

He gave her a look. "Yeah, all the best ones are." He smiled. As she picked up the last book from the ground, her ears picked up something that made her stomach churn and her hands sweat. Police sirens were blaring, and it sounded like they were heading straight for the alleyway. She glanced down the other alley – maybe those two officers from before _did_ see her. She quickly ducked behind the box, with her back pressed up against it so that no officers that came by would see her. She glanced up and saw that the box had writing on it. With some difficulty, she managed to read 'POLICE BOX' with small writing in the middle. She glanced at the man – what was a councilman doing with a police box? She turned and looked at the box a little more clearly; do they even _make _these anymore?

The Doctor stood, looking down the alleyway. "Thaaaaaaaa-" He drew the word out like bubble gum. "-aaaaa's not good." He murmured. "He'll find me in about two minutes." He turned. "Which is why I need to move _now_." He growled at the police box. "But you're not moving, are you?" He started pacing, biting his nails.

The girl looked over to the suddenly worried man. "Are they after you, too?" She asked. "Why would they want to get you?"

"No reason!" He said hurriedly. "No … Reason … At all." He walked around to the front of the box. From his pocket, he produced a rod with a light at the end. He put the light to the door. "Come on, come on …"

She picked up her copy of The Ugly Duckling and took off her long scarf to tie it into a make-shift hobo bag. She suspected that she would have to be running soon, if she couldn't find a good hiding place. The gold air that bit at her neck made her shiver. "What have you got there?" She said, scratching at her neck with warm fingers, looking over his shoulder and trying to figure out what he was doing.

"It's a sonic screw driver." He whiffed it about. It was admitting a high pitched whirring noise and the noise pitched as the light shone on different things. "It sonics." The man explained briefly.

"Sonic…" She breathed to herself. There was something about this fellow – he was unlike anyone she's ever seen, ever met, and he was using such big words and his sentences made no sense and the funny little sonic thing that he had just added to the wonder that surrounded him. He was like a statue shrouded in fog, she couldn't really grasp what the statue was of, but the blurred shape seemed to beckon to her.

The Doctor shook his 'sonic screwdriver' again and he groaned. "You can travel through time and space and you just _had_ to be made of wood! I feel like you're doing this on purpose, Idris!" he bellowed. Suddenly in response, the blue box's door made a click, and it swung open. The man whooped. "Yes! Yes! That's it old girl!" He yelled. He quickly opened the door, only to shut it again quickly. He was quiet. Suddenly he turned and looked at the girl. "What is your name?" His brows were furrowed.

The girl swallowed, she felt like this was the moment the entirety of her life pivoted on. "Cara." She said, brushing the longer side of her fringe from her face.

"Cara." He said, rolling the name around in his mouth. "Cara." He shrugged. "Why do you carry all these books with you?" He suddenly started observing her very closely. "You don't collect Vash Nerada as pets, do you?" He frowned.

"A what?" She looked him up and down, he didn't _smell_ crazy. "No, I don't have any pets. And I don't carry them around with me, I keep them over there." She motioned back over to the arm chair.

"There?" He prowled over. "Here?" He was leaning over the seat. "Here?" He popped around the edge of the arm rest. "Ahh," He saw the rubbish can lid. "Here." He purred. "I guess you live here then? Either that or your idea of a backyard is str-aaaaang-e."

"Yeah, well … I do live here, I guess." She looked down at her feet, a bit embarrassed. "But at night the steam from this building comes out of a vent over there, and it is quite warm. And the rain doesn't get down here because of the overhang on the roofs …" She tried to make it sound better.

"Do you have any family, Cara?" He said, walking over. She looked back at the ground, shuffling her feet in their comfortable converse homes. "No." She said, her eyes getting hot.

"Does that mean you have no strings attached here?" He put his hand on her arm.

Cara considered this, and remembered that her books were safe in her bag. "Well, no. I guess not." She said, absently winding her hair around her fingers.

"Do you want to come with me?" He said, smiling warmly. She looked up at him, and her head tilted absentmindedly.

"Come … with you? Where are you going?"

"Oh, you know." He said nonchalantly, putting a hand on the police box door. "The whole of time and space." The door opened and a floor of warm air flowed past her, giving her chills. Suddenly there was a screeching from the road, and the padding of multiple feet. "Right." The man said, both of them looking down the alley. "Guess there's no time for choices, sorry!" He pushed her into the box, slamming the door behind them.

"But what are we going to d-" She froze and gasped, and looked around at her new surroundings. She threw her hands over her mouth, and spun around a few times, trying to comprehend what just happened. She felt lightheaded and her legs felt all wibbly wobbly and she breathed hard, as if lack of oxygen was her problem.

The room was huge, and it was orange and red and gold, and there was a console on a platform in the middle and lots of buttons and Cara just felt like she was going to pass out, so she breathed harder."It's -." She managed the muffled sentence through her hands. "It's… Who are you?" She said, a bit louder, and worry latching a lazy tendril onto the edge of her mind.

"No!" The man hissed, whipping a hand around her mouth. "He'll hear you." Cara nodded, it's better to deal with him when the police have left. Slowly and silently, the man moved up the grilled platform, toward what looked like a console. There were buttons and levers and the whole package on it, and in the center stood an opaque column, through which colors ran through like tinted spirits while three glass spheres each smaller than the one it followed dipped languidly in its case. The room was slightly dim, and the buttons looked hazy in the dark, except for those that glowed with a strange light. Suddenly the man's shoe got caught on the grill, and he stumbled, before he caught himself on the console. But he had made a huge racket. "Uh-oh." He breathed.

The entire place suddenly began to shake, and a roar thundered through the atmosphere. The Doctor wobbled around, trying to somewhat to hang on, while Cara was flung to the floor near the stairs, managing to hang onto a railing.

"We're going to have to make a trip!" He yelled as he pulled a lever. The room shook even harder and the Doctor ran around pushing different things.

"Wha-what?" Cara yelled as she hung on for dear life. She had no idea what was going on and she could barely hear him over the roar that was now getting louder and seemed to overpower all of her senses. She let go of her precious bundle of books and hooked another arm around the railing as the place seemed to tip onto its side.

"What has he done? Super glued his hands to the walls?" The Doctor yelled. He pulled more levers and the room began to shake differently, throwing Cara in different directions. "Get off! Come on!" He yelled.

Cara was jerked this way and that, but she wouldn't let her grip on the railing loosen. "Wh-AAhht's HaAp-pen-ning!" she tried to yell, but found it rather difficult because the whole place was shaking violently.

"He's thrown us off course!" The Doctor yelled, holding on too. "Hold tight, we might have a violent landing!" He warned. Suddenly something collided with them, and they were both tossed into the air. Cara landed with a thud on a piece of padding to the right of the stairwell, and then realized that it was the man she had landed on. He groaned, and she froze. She had never been this close to a man before.

"S-Sorry." She stuttered before rolling off him, rubbing her neck to soothe the whiplash.

"Ow." The Doctor groaned, getting up. "Oh he is going to get a mouthful." He growled, striding toward the door.

"Who? What was all that?" Cara stood and tried to follow him, rubbing her neck and turning this way and that to check that nothing was broken – bruised ribs maybe. The door opened, but it was dark. There wasn't any light, and the man stuck his head out, looking around.

"He–" Suddenly something whipped past him, caught the man on the nose. The man screamed and slammed the door shut. His nose was red – it only looked horribly bruised. "Right, he's still out there then." He whispered.

Cara knelt down beside him, simply just looking at him. "And _what_ is it that is out there?" She demanded, her brown hair flung over her shoulders and a flustered look about her.

"Something very big." He said, rubbing his nose and walking back to the console. "And very angry."

Cara started yelling. "How can that _thing_, that _huge thing_ just casually roam around the city without oh sweet lord we're not in the city anymore are we." Cara quickly readjusted her sentence as she saw the look on the man's face.

"Um, no." The man said, avoiding her eyes. "Well that's not the problems right now." He said; he was looking at a screen hanging from a thick frame; it had two handles and lots of buttons. Suddenly the room shook again, but only for a short amount of time. There was a thick growl. "That." He pointed behind him without taking his eyes off the screen. "_That_ is the problem right now."

Cara slammed a hand down on the screen, obscuring his view. "And, _what_ do we do about … _that_?" She said, trying to sound confident but her voice quivered with fear.

"I'm…" A graph came up on the screen and he moved her hand gently, as soon as he did the screen changed to static. "…not sure at the moment." He glanced at her. "But I am sure that whatever plan I make will definitely be most brilliant and fantastic and get us out of here."

Cara backed from him, backed to the edge of the platform, where there was a bench, conveniently. She sat, and began to shake. Suddenly she looked up, eyes flashing bright. "What did you say your name was again?"

"I didn't." The screen came up with a black area, and something even darker prowling around a blue wall. "Yes!"

"Yes? Yes what?" What's happening? Do you have a plan?" She went over to where he was, and looked up at the screen. She gulped. "Is that what got your nose?"

"Either that or something else hitched a ride." The man said, concentrating. "Because I'm getting two heat signals out there..."


	2. Hello again, friend

Author's note: I cannot take all the credit for Chapter one, only half, but everything from here on is all my own work.

* * *

"Who are you?" Cara demanded, standing back. She had handcuffed him to a rail, and the man pulled against his restraints.

"Always bloody handcuffs! Why are you women always so kinky?" The man complained, testing the cuff against the railing, to see if either would give. "Where did you even get this?"

"I found it," Cara admitted. It was true; she had gone back downstairs to gather her books, and since they had been tossed around some were dog eared and crinkled, and she had to search hard to find them. One had flown into a half-open box, and when she opened it, the book had closed around the handcuffs, as if it was biting down on it to bring back to its master. Cara reckoned she could just take it, just in case. She didn't really think she would use it on him, but the situation was too dire and she just needed explanations.

"Wait," the man's eyes widened. "Does this mean you don't have the key?"

Cara's lips opened and shut as she realized what she had done, but she wasn't prepared to admit it. "Of course not." The man's eyes widened further. "I mean – I mean of course not that I don't have the key, double negatives right? I mean of course that I _don't_ don't have the key and that means I do… right?" She chuckled nervously.

The man hung his head and sighed. "Okay, okay fine. Just go and find some wire cutters or something, just _something_." He took out his sonic screwdriver and started pointing it at the handcuffs, changing the frequency now and then. Nothing happened.

Cara crossed her arms. "Not until you tell me who you are."

"I'm the Doctor." The man looked at her. She laughed.

"Doctor who?"

"No, not who. Just the Doctor."

"Just the Doctor."

The man nodded, smiling and pointing his thumbs at himself.

"The Doctor of just."

His smile faded a little bit, and his brow furrowed. "Um…–"

"Just like justice. Are you are super hero?" Cara narrowed her eyes teasingly. "Strange man with a box by day, a protector of cities and promoter of justice by night; you are the Doctor!"

The man sighed as if he was a celebrity someone had suddenly recognised him. "Yeah I guess you could say that."

"No, who are you really?" Cara asked.

"The Doctor."

"But what kind of name is that?"

"A very attractive one–look that's beside the point. That thing out there," He pointed to the door. "is getting bigger. I don't know how, I don't know why. But at some point in the _very_ near future, it's going to get big enough to crush us, so we need to get out of here. Right now." He rattled the handcuffs. "Which involves you getting me out of these."

Cara admitted that on the level of dealing with huge things, moving boxes and things bigger on the inside, this … _Doctor_ was probably better at it. The butterflies in her stomach started flapping until it felt like crows had nested in her body, so she sighed and nodded, and plodded off in the direct that he was pointing. The room had several doors that lead into hallways, dark ones with beams of light that illuminated her face like glow worms. They seemed to pulse with her every step, and she was tempted to reach out and touch them, but she was more tempted to keep all her limbs intact and connected to her body, so she didn't. There were more doors on the sides of the hall, and she tried one. It was locked even though it was exactly the same door as all the others. She tried another, it opened with a click and it swung into a dim room that smelt like old leather. Suddenly a fire roared in a hearth and the place illuminated into light.

It was a library. Cara gasped – she had never seem so many books, stacked so beautifully against bookshelves so high; she couldn't see the top and the spine of each book was illuminated like glow sticks of different colours. She saw an armchair next to the fireplace, and looking around, she started walking towards it. She just wanted to see what it felt like, what the plush leather and wooden legs felt like under her, what noise it made and memories it held. She reached out and saw that she was shaking; but not with fear, with anticipation.

Suddenly "_Caraaaaaaaaaaaa_!"

She turned around, and whipped straight back out of the room toward the scream. She didn't even notice the fire spluttering out and the door shutting behind her. She sprinted down the hall, but it seemed longer than before, and there were more doors that she didn't recognize. Suddenly the hall ended, and she skidded to a halt, swinging her arms madly, managing to grip the ground on her tip toes, and swung back on her heels.

This is a pool.

She looked around and back down the hall – it definitely was where she had come from just a second ago, so why was everything different? She turned back around; and there is a pool in this … box. Her eyes widened as she remembered her initial shock that was now ebbing away but still clear in her mind – the shock of entering the box and seeing the interior. Another scream cut her short.

"Caraaa!" The Doctor screamed. Cara was minutely aware that the water in the pool had begun to ripple on its own, as if the ground was shaking. The screamed had flowed through the hall to the right of the pool, and without a thought she sprinted through it. It immediately lead back into the orange room she was in before, except now, without the protection of the TARDIS's interior stabilization unit, she could feel the shaking, and the room was quaking beneath her feet. She looked back, but the she could no longer see directly into the pool; it was as if the walls were moving and the rooms running around and throwing her sense of direction around for fun.

"Did you find one?" The Doctor yelled, face hopeful. Cara swallowed and ran to him, shaking her head. His face dropped. "There's no other choice." He wet his lips. "You're going to have to fly her."

Cara looked around; she couldn't see any planes or birds. What was she flying? "What am I flying?" She echoed her thought.

The Doctor nodded to the console. "The TARDIS."

Cara looked to the control panels, with its mismatched buttons, levers and strange contraptions. She spotted an egg whisk on the far right side. She looked back to the Doctor, a horrified look on her face. "I don't know how!" She said, grabbing onto a rail as the shaking became worse.

"I'll teach you!" The Doctor pushed her to her feet. "Hurry up! Pull the red lever and spin that gas valve three quarters clock wise, once counter clockwise and bang it with that sledge hammer hanging there!"

Cara reached out to the nearest red lever – which was unfortunately the wrong one – but before she could pull it something crashed into the right of the TARDIS, and she was thrown from her feet, back down the stairs. She handed on the ground, her head cushioned by … well … a cushion.

"Huh?" she said as she felt the cushion below her head. She saw that the box that she had retrieved her book from had toppled over, its contents spilled upon the ground. And right there, in front of her eyes, was a key.

She wasn't sure, but she had to try it, so she picked it up and sprinted back up the stairs. As she knelt the Doctor had a look on his face.

"What are you doing? You're supposed to pull the – oh." He said as his wrist came free. "Thanks."

Another roar ripped through the TARDIS and shook them violently, Cara having to hold on again to the rails. The Doctor sprang to his feet and did exactly what he told Cara to do seconds before, and more.

"Come on old girl!" He yelled, making dings and clangs here and there. Cara hadn't noticed before, but the spheres inside the column begun to move when certain switches were flipped, certain buttons smashed. They began to bob up and down, becoming faster as a strange whirring sound accompanying each bob began to overcome the roar. The coloured spirits pulsed stronger, until all of a sudden they struck vertically and became columns of light, almost obscuring the triplets as they pulsed harder, the whirring sound making Cara's ears ring. "That's it!" The Doctor yelled as a feeling of weightlessness overcame Cara, and the place shook gently instead of the roughage that the huge monster had put them through.

Whatever it was roared again, but it was getting further away and it roared over and over again in fury, until the only sound Cara heard was the now mediocre whirring and the Doctor's gentle encouragements.

Suddenly the whirring stopped, and the ground stabled, and Cara dared to loosen her grip. The Doctor slowed to a stop right in front of her, leaning on the console and grinning. Cara saw the look on his face and frowned.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

The Doctor nodded toward the door. "Take a look."

Slowly, Cara turned and made her way to the door. She didn't trust this man, even though every atom in her body screamed at her to do so. She's lived long enough to know that you should never trust people easily – they may seem trustworthy, but that never does prove anything. That plus the fact that, you know. He's mad.

She shook her head and smiled as she neared the door. The box that's bigger on the inside, the talk, the name, the monster. Cara stopped short of just opening the door.

"What's out there?"

"Take a look." The Doctor smiled warmly, putting his hands in his pockets and leaning against the door beam. Clara stood her ground and crossed her arms.

"You can take a look for me."

The Doctor's smile turned into confusion. "But why?"

"After what you've just put me through, you expect me to just … stick my head out when we could be _anywhere_?"

The Doctor spluttered, and took a hand out to open the door. "But – but it's just … Earth." The door opened out onto a lush green lawn and trees, and over a concrete road was a row of houses, but suburban.

"This isn't the city. This isn't where we left off." She turned to him. "This isn't where I –"

The Doctor held up a finger, his face frowned, and he quickly pushed her out, shutting the door just as someone rounded around the box. He had curly dirty-blonde hair and bright blue eyes, a look of astonishment on his face.

"Uh, yes hello." The Doctor said, whipping out the identification again. Cara noticed that it was different this time – just how many identities did this man lie about? "Sorry, we're just putting up…" he patted the TARDIS's blue door. "…a statue."

The man put his hands in his hair, and he began to laugh. He looked this way and that, as if to say _this isn't happening_, and then he turned back to the Doctor with a look of disbelief.

"Blimey." He breathed. "You're the Doctor."

Cara looked from the man to the Doctor, as if to try and figure out whether they were all going mad. The Doctor smiled hesitantly, but not insincerely. "Yes, that's me."

The man laughed some more, then straightened himself. "I can't believe this; I was brought up on stories of you."

Suddenly the Doctor's smile disappeared and his brow furrowed. "Stories of me…" He whispered. He straightened upright and all of a sudden Cara felt him tower over like a god. "Who are you?" The Doctor asked quietly.

"Oh yes, of course." The man put his hand to his face. "It's me, Alfie. Craig Owen's son."

"Stormageddon, dark lord of all." The Doctor smiled suddenly. "Hello again!" He reached out and hugged Alfie, and much to Cara's disgust, sniffed him. He drew back and tilted his head. "You've grown so tall, but you're still so young. You still smell like baby!" He patted Alfie on the shoulder. Before Cara could comprehend what this strange exchange was, the Doctor turned and presented Alfie to her like a prize trophy.

"Amelia, you remember –" That's when he stopped short and Cara noticed his gaze change like a veil was drawn over them. It was a few moments of silence broken by Alfie turning around and looking over the Doctor's face.

"Doctor, are you okay?"

"Hm?" He looked at Alfie, and life sprung back into his face, but not his eyes. "Oh! Of course. Alfie, this is Cara. I sort of saved her." He smiled.

Cara feigned a cough and muttered _abducted_. Alfie smiled and waved like a child, mouthing _hi_. Cara waved back.

"Cara, this is Alfie. His father and I go way back." He glanced at Alfie, as if gauging his age. "Way…way back." He murmured. "Alfie, where is your dad?"

Alfie's face went blank, as if he was day dreaming. "I – I don't know." He drawled. "He went…" He started, but then he seemed to restart himself. "He went…" he repeated. The Doctor's face clouded, and he glanced at Cara, who looked equally worried. "He went…"

"Alfie…?" The Doctor said slowly. At the sound of his name, Alfie snapped to attention.

"Yeah?" He looked at them both. "Oh! That's right, d'youse want to come in for some tea?"

Cara started, but the Doctor interrupted her. "Of course Alfie, lead the way."

Alfie bounded off, apparently still bewildered and overjoyed at having found the Doctor. Slowly and wearily the Doctor followed after, and behind him trailed Cara, more confused and suspicious than she's ever been in her life.

What exactly was going on here?

* * *

Author's note: The first part of the conversation between the Doctor and Alfie is from a photoset I had seen somewhere, but I don't have the source. So, I do not own the first part of the talk Alfie has with the Doctor.

PS. Oh I also don't own Doctor Who. Like pfft that would be awesome.


	3. The reason

As Alfie hurried around the kitchen pouring water, mixing condiments and such, Cara and the Doctor shared a very serious but quiet conversation.

"Okay, you owe me an explanation." She said.

"Ah, right well I don't know about what happened with Alfie, but something is definitely up." The Doctor said, and Cara seemed to consider this.

"Okay right scratch that, you owe me two explanations." She said and put up a finger. "Number one – who are you?"

"The Doctor." He said as-a-matter-of-factly. Quite rightly too because he had told her before - several times.

"No, I know your name, but _who_ are you?" She said, tilting the finger and bopping him on the nose. "You're not …" She looked for the word and the right way to approach this. "… like me, are you?"

The Doctor looked at her like he had the weight of something quite important on his shoulders. Cara shifted in her seat and leaned closer, her face turning softer and her eyes searching, waiting patiently for a response.

"No." The Doctor finally said, glancing up before his gaze returned to the ground and he begun to wring his hands. "I'm not. I'm not like you at all. I'm a time lord."

"Is that an alien?"

"Yes."

"So why do you look … well human?"

The Doctor groaned. "I don't – why do you look time lord? We were here first!" He said, exasperated before he muttered something like _every damn time_. "I'm a time lord, and I come from the planet Gallifrey."

"But how is it that we're … here? I mean, it's just … a box." Cara said quietly as if to herself.

"It's called a TARDIS; Time and Relative Dimensions in Space. It's like a time traveling spaceship." The Doctor said.

"But it's a box."

"Yeah but it's a time traveling box."

"But it's a _box_."

"The chameleon circuit's broken!" He finally admitted, as if giving in to himself. His hands flailed and he fell back into the back of his chair, sighing. "I've told someone this before, but I guess I've got to explain it to you. Usually it would change its appearance to blend into its new surroundings when we materialize, because of the chameleon circuit. So if we landed in like a place with a lot of rocks, it'll turn into a rock. It's really amazing, because it will know exactly how to blend in no matter where it is. It can change into literally anything, anything at all," The Doctor said, his eyes gleaming now as if he's getting super excited about the topic at hand. Then suddenly his face lost its animation and his eyebrows dropped dangerously low and his voice dipped – he almost sounded embarrassed. "… and then it changes into a police telephone box from 1963."

Cara considered this and decided that it really wasn't worth pursuing. "Okay, fine. You're an alien mad man with a blue box that can transcend time and space. I guess it's better than anything I've had in a while." Cara said and the Doctor's face grew sad. "But what's up with this… Alfie?"

"Yes?" Alfie answered immediately as he presented them with two mugs. Cara cupped one with what looked like tea, and the Doctor was left with the cup of coffee. Of course, the Doctor had no inkling as to what he was handed, and took a big swig, before he unhinged his jaw entirely, and the liquid drained from his mouth back into his cup. He waggled his tongue and scrunched up his face in disdain, taking the cup by two fingers and putting it on the counter next to him. Alfie was talking with Cara and didn't notice the Doctor's actions. He seemed to remember doing this last time with Craig, but he really couldn't remember – it was a whole regeneration ago.

"Alfie, sit down." The Doctor offered after Cara had thanked him wholeheartedly for the drinks – she really hadn't had anything that nice in a while. Alfie sat without any snacks of his own, intertwining his fingers and leaning his elbows against his lap. He watched the Doctor intently, a wan smile on his face.

"Alfie, I need you to concentrate." The Doctor said, bringing himself to his eye level. "Alfie, where is your dad?"

Again, Alfie's eyes glazed over, and their gaze wondered up like he was trying to recollect a name or place. "He's…" he murmured. "He's at…"

"That's right, keep remembering." The Doctor encouraged him, pulling out his sonic screwdriver and taking some readings. "Keep trying." He murmured as he read what the sonic screwdriver read back. His brow furrowed and he looked back at Alfie, who still looked lost. "Keep trying…" He echoed himself.

"Doctor? What's wrong?" Cara said quietly, looking between the two men.

"It's …" The Doctor looked between Alfie and his sonic screwdriver, referencing the readings he's getting. "It's …" He looked back up just as the front door opened. "… Craig."

Craig Owens put his door keys in the bowl, put his jacket on the coat hanger and stopped dead in the middle of the hall way.

Then he sneezed.

"Hey I'm back." He said as he turned into the living room and stopped dead again.

"Craig." The Doctor said with a sad smile. He stood and walked to Craig's side, put his hands on his shoulders, and then placed two air kisses gingerly on either side of his face. "That's what people do these days, right?" He grinned.

"Doctor?" Craig's voice was small and shaking and his eyes were wide.

"Hello Craig." He whispered and hugged him. After the Doctor and Craig had their moment, he turned and introduced Craig to Cara.

"Cara, this is Craig, Alfie's dad and my good friend." He said to Cara, pointing to Craig and smiling like a child as if to say _look at what I found_! "Craig, this is Cara. She's my new friend."

Craig and Cara exchanged _hellos_ and then they just sort of stood there awkwardly. Until Craig looked at Alfie, who still looked quite dazed, and said _oh bloody hell not again_. He clicked his fingers in front of his face.

"Alfie." He said. Again, Alfie snapped to attention – _Oh hello dad, you won't believe who I've found. It's the Doctor, the one you've told me about!_

The Doctor's face seemed a bit grave again, and he sat Craig down next to his son. Craig chuckled a bit and straightened his shirt.

"Oh yeah, I probably look a bit old, don't I Doctor? You know it's been quite a while since we've seen each other. But I assure you I don't need to be sat everywhere I go."

The Doctor chuckled but Cara noticed that he looked sad again. "Where were you Craig?"

Both Craig and Alfie's faces went blank as they repeated the uncompleted sentences almost synchronized.

"I was at…"

"He went…"

"I was…"

"He was…"

The Doctor took out his sonic screwdriver and took more readings, then he looked at Cara. He pointed the sonic screwdriver at her. Even though she felt no different physically, she still felt like she was being violated. She flailed her arms in front of his beam.

"Stop that."

The Doctor looked at his readings and nodded to himself. "Just as I thought."

"What?" Cara asked, suddenly interested.

"Their readings looked normal, but when I stack it next to a regular human being who doesn't seem compromised at all, there is one tiny but significant detail different." He ran his fingers through his hair. Cara waited for him to continue, because she had a feeling he would. He looked at her and his eyes turned dark.

"It's their memories, Cara. Something's wrong with their memories." He explained. "I mean, yours run in a smooth line, like the ripples from a drop in a still pond. But theirs … It's like someone put a wall against one side, and stopped them remembering whenever it's in relevance to something. They don't take it away though, when it's done blocking whatever it is they are trying not to let them remember." His mouth moved but words came out staggered like he wants to explain more but doesn't really know how to. "It … It doesn't allow for any more ripples to pass through – It's caging their minds in, Cara. They're remembering less and less each time."

"You can't take down the walls?" Cara asked. The Doctor looked distressed, like the thought of _why can't you understand this the same way I do_ running through his head.

"No. No." He repeated to himself. "I can't, not without disrupting the pond completely. We need to find out what is putting the walls there and why." He clicked his fingers in front of their faces. "Craig, Alfie."

They looked up at him, their eyes suddenly clear. "Oh hello, sorry were you saying something?" Craig asked. The Doctor shook his head, and asked Craig to show him pictures of any trips he's been on recently. Or just anywhere, really.

Alfie stood awkwardly with Cara in the kitchen, who had rediscovered her tea and was now sipping gratefully.

"So, are you one of those?" Alfie asked. Cara looked at him and the first word that ran through her mind was _prostitute_.

"A what?"

"A companion?" Alfie practically jumped with glee at the mention of the word. "I've always dreamed of being his companion." He smiled. Cara wanted to smile, but she really didn't know what a companion meant. She tried to give him a confused look.

"Oh, you don't know?" Alfie's voice was repressing a tone that sounded like _how is that possible have you been living under a rock_. "He has companions. The Doctor does, yeah. I mean, I've only heard about a few – he told my dad about a few and my dad knew some people who've met him too. He was with other women, apparently they were all very pretty," His smile glowed at the next bit. "Like you."

Cara didn't know what to say or do except look at him with a deer-in-the-headlights look. Then, after Alfie had felt like he had been shot down fantastically, he returned to the conversation with more fervor, like he didn't want to take a breath ever and die gasping but with pride.

"I mean, there was apparently a woman called Rose. Pretty name, don't you think? I mean, not that I don't think your name is pretty, I mean – well all girl's names are pretty, I mean, they're girls, right? And I think she was with him for a very long time. I heard she stayed with him through a whole regeneration and then some. Isn't that amazing? Then there was a woman called Martha – she stayed for ages, and saved his life! Come to think of it all of his companions saved his life at least once. I mean the next one in line – Donna – she apparently absorbed a bit of him and _became_ a bit time lord but then something happened, but I don't know what because they stopped talking and looked very sad so I didn't pry because that would be rude, right? But she saved the Doctor, her mum and the human race. Then there was this amazing girl called Amy but Amy was short for Amelia - she was with him when my dad met the Doctor - and she had a husband who went on adventures with them too. I mean wow I wish I could go on adventures with the Doctor too but I'm not married to you or – I mean to a companion I mean, uh not you specifically – not that I wouldn't want to marry you, not that I would if you didn't want to, not that this is a marriage proposal." At that point in the monologue Cara was very happy when Craig and the Doctor came back into the room and interrupted Alfie with his name said very softly and the sub context of _stop harassing the nice girl, son_ and Alfie became quiet and looked at the ground. Cara sipped her now lukewarm tea but was still very grateful for it.

"Right, Cara, I'm going to show you something." The Doctor said, all giddy and his face filled with light. "Alfie, if you'll kindly move next to your dad."

Alfie obediently moved next to a confused looking Craig, his eyes trained on the floor and his hands grasping at thin air at his sides like he was very nervous.

"Okay," The Doctor said as he rubbed his palms together and making _whoohoo_ noises like he was going to perform a magic trick. "Craig, Alfie…" Craig and Alfie (who finally looked up, but not at Cara) looked at the Doctor expectantly. "Where is Sophie?"

Both Alfie and Craig's faces went blank as they looked to the sky. The Doctor clapped his hands together and made jazz hands around the duo.

"Tada!" He laughed. Cara tried to look amused but gave a look of beckoning like _what am I supposed to be amazed by again?_

"I've found it!" He said, prowling around Craig and Alfie, his arms still outstretched and waving them up and down the two. "I've found what they've been trying to block!"

"And that is?"

"Craig's wife, Sophie!"


	4. The reason the reason isn't the reason

"Craig, Alfie." The Doctor snapped his fingers. Both men snapped to attention, looked wildly around the room, and then at the Doctor and Cara.

"Doctor?" Craig whispered, his eyes wide and a grin formed on his lips when he saw the sonic screw driver in his hand. "Oh my god I can't believe it's you!" He cried, running over and hugging him. Alfie looked really confused, and when Craig hugged the Doctor, his eyes went wide like his father's.

"Wow! You're the Doctor? Oh my god this is amazing! I was raised on stories of you! My dad had told me so much about you, and your adventures and your companions. I'm Al-"

"Alfie." The Doctor finished the sentence for him, his brows knitted together. Craig sensed his worried demeanor and backed off slightly.

"What's wrong?" Then he looked around. "Hang on, how am I here?"

"Oh yeah, wasn't I outside just a few seconds ago?" Alfie said, looking around too. Then he spotted Cara, who everyone had somehow overlooked, and blushed.

"Um, dad." Was all he said.

"Who are you and how did you get in here?" Craig frowned, looking worried and curious at the same time.

"This is Cara, she's my friend." The Doctor said, walking over and putting an arm around Cara's shoulder. "We should be off, lots of stuff to do." He guided Cara toward the door. "But we'll be back, don't you worry." He tried to laugh.

"But wait, Doctor you just got here, where are you running off to?" Craig said, following them.

"Nowhere important, you just stay put, we'll be back for you." The Doctor said before taking Cara's hand and leading her back into the TARDIS.

"What was this?" Cara asked finally when they were inside and the door was closed.

"It's the walls, there's been another one." He smacked his forehead several times. "Stupid stupid stupid! I shouldn't have asked! Oh why did I have to go snooping! Now there's less time with each mention." He paced around the console, his fingernail between his teeth.

"Doctor what is it?" Cara had to yell, taking him by the shoulders and shaking him.

"It's Sophie." The Doctor yelled back, distressed. "She's the trigger. Every time we mention Sophie the trigger sets down another block and there's less ripples. I mean before, it was just to stop the memories about where they were going from them, but now the walls are – are overlapping and stacking and the ripples are trapped and –" He looked at the door, as if he could see through it at Alfie and Craig in their house. "their memories are dying."

"Dying?" Cara said, frowning. "Memories can't die, I mean, you can forget, but you can't really forget something you never knew, right?"

"Exactly!" The Doctor yelled, jumping and bring Cara with him. "Exactly my point – they didn't forget because the ripples are _dying_, Cara. They're dying in such a way it's like they never existed. That's why they didn't remember us." He said, exasperated. "Their memories are dying, Cara." He said, his voice sounding desperate and he looked cornered.

"But why can't we just find Sophie and set it right?" Cara said, trying to smile.

"Because she's not the reason." The Doctor said.

"But you said that she was the trigger! If we find her and I don't know, bring her to them two maybe they could get their memories back. You can use your sonic screwdriver! Why can't we just do that?" Cara yelled, trying to get the Doctor to hope for the better.

"Because she's dead!" The Doctor yelled.

"What?" Cara's voice was quiet and she wasn't smiling anymore.

"Sophie is dead."


End file.
